Week Ahead

THURSDAY 7/24 MLS All-Stars vs. West Ham Newmarket, Ont., native Jim Brennan (right) won't go to the Olympics—Canada failed to qualify for the sixth straight time—but the Toronto FC defender will still help celebrate national soccer pride. Brennan, the first player to sign with the expansion Toronto club in 2006, will be one of three Canadians on the field (along with goalkeeper Pat Onstad and midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, both of the Houston Dynamo) when the MLS Stars face England's West Ham in Toronto. ESPN 7 p.m.

FRIDAY 7/25 U.S. vs. Canada Our neighbors to the north won't be sending a basketball team to the Olympics either; Canada's qualifying bid ended with a loss to Croatia last Friday. But tonight Team Canada will help Kobe Bryant (left), LeBron James and the rest of Team USA tune up in the U.S.'s final exhibition before China. ESPN 8 p.m.

SATURDAY 7/26 Iron Girl Lake Las Vegas Triathlon The field for this event (run in April but airing for the first time today) included former world champs Samantha McGlone and Mirinda Carfrae, but the coverage also focuses on inspiring amateurs who swam, biked and ran. Among them are Tate Renee, who is legally blind, and her guide Becky Lamph, a thyroid cancer survivor. NBC 2:30 p.m.

SUNDAY 7/27 Marlins at Cubs The Rays aren't the only feel-good Florida baseball story: The Marlins are hanging tough in the NL East. Florida has the NL's third-best offense (4.9 runs per game), and its lineup might be strengthened by the recent arrival of catcher John Baker; the 27-year-old rookie hit two homers and knocked in six runs in his first five games. TBS 2 p.m.

Hoping to stage a dazzling, dissent-free spectacle, China has carefully planned—and tried to control—every aspect of the Beijing Games. Anyone looking to spoil the event will have to reckon with 1.3 billion proud Chinese

America's new set of Olympians, nearly 600 strong, hails from 47 of the 50 states and includes identical twins, soldiers, teenagers, a cancer patient, a 58-year-old CEO and the daughter of a Super Bowl champion

MONDAY 7/28 A Shot at Glory This 10-part series, which premieres tonight and airs until the Olympics begin on Aug. 8, profiles some of the noncelebrity athletes who will compete in Beijing. The first episode features U.S. wrestler Dan Cormier (left), who is still coping with the tragic deaths of his father (who was shot when he was seven) and his daughter (in 2003). MOJO HD 9 p.m.

SI PICK OF THE WEEK

SUNDAY 7/27 Arena Bowl XXII Philadelphia QBs getting hurt is nothing new: Donovan McNabb has gone down in each of the last three seasons. But a replacement guiding the team to a title? That'd be a first. It will happen if Matt D'Orazio (above, left) can lead the Soul past the defending champs, the San Jose SaberCats, in New Orleans. D'Orazio took over in Philly after Tony Graziani suffered a knee injury in Week 3. The 31-year-old journeyman from Division III Otterbein College threw for 3,331 yards and 72 TDs and was named the AFL's Quarterback of the Year. ABC 3 p.m.